Valley Metro expansion project to bring light rail to South Phoenix
The Brief
A new Valley Metro expansion is nearly complete that will connect downtown Phoenix to south Phoenix.
It's at 95% completion and marks a milestone in the Valley's ever-expanding light rail system.
PHOENIX - A major development that took five years is almost up and running in the Valley.
Valley Metro unveiled the first train that will cross the Salt River bridge along its new route into South Phoenix.
What we know
The train is part of the South Central light rail extension that connects downtown and south Phoenix.
The project is at 95% completion, and it marks a milestone for Valley Metro as they are introducing a two-line light rail system.
What they're saying
"The South Central Extension/Downtown Hub will extend the existing light rail system from downtown Phoenix south along Central Avenue to Baseline Road, connecting historically and culturally significant neighborhoods. The project includes a new light rail transit hub in downtown Phoenix, featuring new stations and public art throughout the corridor," the city said on its website.
Completion is expected later in 2025.
Why you should care
The city of Phoenix and Valley Metro made grants available for small businesses along the route, but still some still say they've lost customers, nearly putting them out of business.
"It's been pretty tough," a business owner said. "You can go up and down South Central and see all the businesses that couldn't survive it."
Since 2019, Valley Metro has been building the South Central light rail extension along Central Avenue.
"We're thinking by summer this should be complete, and we will be celebrating another milestone with the community up here in early March when the trains actually reach our Baseline and Central Avenue station, which will be our future end of line," Juliana Vasquez-Keating with Valley Metro said.
Dig deeper
"This will be the first train crossing from downtown Phoenix over the salt river bridge into South Phoenix," Valley Metro CEO, Jessica Mefford-Miller, said.
An owner of a small business along Central Avenue who wants to stay anonymous says construction has significantly impacted her business.
"We were a very, very successful business until construction," she said. "What little fast food business can survive 4.5 years of construction with people not driving down South Central when you're a business on South Central."
Valley Metro and the city of Phoenix offered grant funding up to $9,000 and extended the grant through March 31.
The other side
"The business access, we know that construction is impactful, and as you know there are barricades in front of their business," Valley Metro said.
Some businesses were able to take advantage of the grant, while others have been unsuccessful.
"There's so many layers of people you have to talk to and submit papers to and then those papers lay on someone's desk for months, and you don't hear back, and then you're asked to resubmit them. No, we've never gotten any grants," the business owner said.
Businesses that made it this far are counting down the days until construction is over.
"All we can hope for is that progress will continue on South Central and South Central will become a great thoroughfare," the small business owner said.
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